Hundreds of thousands of refugees from war-ravaged Sudan, reliant on life-saving food aid in Chad, face a dire situation as funding shortages threaten to halt assistance by April, according to a warning issued by a United Nations agency on Tuesday.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) urgently seeks $242 million in donations to sustain aid for 1.2 million Sudanese refugees, especially as the imminent rainy season poses a risk of disrupting road access for humanitarian deliveries in eastern Chad.
Pierre Honnorat, the Chad director for WFP, emphasized the critical nature of the situation, stating, “We are in a race against time.” He highlighted the drastic measures already taken to scale back operations, leaving many on the brink of starvation, underscoring the need for immediate donor support to avert a full-blown catastrophe.
Ongoing conflicts in Sudan, particularly the recent outbreak in April involving the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have compounded the crisis. With eight million people displaced within Sudan, the number of refugees seeking sanctuary in Chad has soared, surpassing 400,000 since 2003.
Prior to the latest conflict, WFP was aiding 1.4 million refugees in Chad from neighboring conflicts, but due to resource constraints, assistance to the majority of refugees from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria has been suspended for several months.
The influx of more than 559,000 Sudanese refugees and 150,000 Chadian returnees into Chad following recent violence has further strained resources, transforming the country into one with the “fastest-growing refugee populations in Africa,” according to WFP.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council issued a call for a ceasefire in Sudan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as the conflict has claimed thousands of lives.
Recognizing the severity of the situation, Chad’s transitional president Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno declared a “state of food and nutritional emergency” across the nation in February, underscoring the urgent need for international assistance.
